We love a good sensory path. With quick sensory stations, mindfulness breaks, movement, heavy work activities, and motor activities, a sensory path is an easy way to help kids that need to MOVE. We’ve shared a few sensory paths here on the website, including our Spring Sensory Stations, our Fall Sensory Stations.
These printable sensory stations make up a quick sensory path that can be used in school hallways or the walk to the therapy clinic. Add them to your toolbox of Christmas mindfulness strategies. Now we have a Christmas Sensory Path made up of quick holiday sensory stations!
Christmas Sensory Stations
This time of year, it can be hard to get kids to focus on the tasks they need to complete in the school setting.
It can even be hard for kids to walk down the hallway!
That’s where these Christmas Sensory Station printables come in. Print them off, laminate them (or slide them into a page protector sleeve) and hang them on the wall. They make a great movement break for the home, too.
Let’s break down the sensory path activities in this printable packet:
- The first Christmas sensory station included in this free resource includes a figure 8 deep breathing activity with a holiday theme. Kids can trace along the figure 8 as they take in deep breaths and then breathe them out. There are Christmas lights decorating the figure eight. Encourage kids to take deep breaths in and out as they feel their breathing rate calm.
2. The next sensory activity in this Christmas sensory path is a gross motor activity that incorporates proprioceptive input and vestibular input to leap like a reindeer. Kids can either get onto all fours to leap or they can stand on their feet like a reindeer taking off to soar in the Christmas night sky with Santa and the other reindeer! The printable is open-ended so you can ask kids to complete as many reindeer leaps as you like.
3. Next, you’ll find a wall push-up activity. On the palm images are Santa’s sleigh. The sensory station instructs kids to push Santa’s sleigh to give it a hand in taking off. Kids can complete wall push-ups by pushing against the hand visuals. This offers heavy work input through their upper body as a calming motor activity. Do as many wall push-ups as needed.
4. Then, there is a jingle bell jumping jack activity that engages the vestibular sense and gets kids active, moving their whole body, and working on coordination, motor planning, and symmetrical and asymmetrical movements gross motor movements. If kids need to “wake up” their system and become more alert, try asking them to hold real jingle bells as they do the jumping jacks.
5. Finally, the last Christmas sensory station is an eye-hand coordination/ deep breathing activity to calm the system. It includes a Christmas tree tracing activity where kids can trace along the spiral and take deep breaths in and out. This calming activity can re-set kids and help with relaxation.
All of these sensory station activities are open-ended so you can ask kids to say the ABCs or count as they complete the tasks. You can also rearrange the order of the sensory walk tasks or omit some of the activities is you like.
Print off several pages and add them in a pattern down the hallway. Or, ask kids to complete each activity a certain number of times. It’s totally up to you and the needs of your kids!
Christmas Party Sensory path
With many schools omitting parent involvement this year and limiting visitors to the classroom, you might be looking for an EASY holiday themed movement activity. Print off these Christmas sensory stations and add them to Christmas obstacle courses or a relay game for the classroom Christmas party!
Or, add this Christmas sensory station kit to your holiday occupational therapy ideas!
Free Christmas Sensory Stations
You can print off the Christmas sensory stations below. Just enter your email address into the form. A note that this printable is also found inside our Member’s Club. Members: just log into your account and download directly from the dashboard. (You can grab our Winter Sensory Stations printable while you are there, too!)
Colleen Beck, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 2000, working in school-based, hand therapy, outpatient peds, EI, and SNF. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. Read her story about going from an OT making $3/hour (after paying for kids’ childcare) to a full-time OT resource creator for millions of readers. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.
More Christmas Activities
Looking for done-for you therapy activities this holiday season?
This print-and-go Christmas Therapy Kit includes no-prep, fine motor, gross motor, self-regulation, visual perceptual activities…and much more… to help kids develop functional grasp, dexterity, strength, and endurance. Use fun, Christmas-themed, motor activities so you can help children develop the skills they need.
This 100 page no-prep packet includes everything you need to guide fine motor skills in face-to-face AND virtual learning. You’ll find Christmas-themed activities for hand strength, pinch and grip, dexterity, eye-hand coordination, bilateral coordination, endurance, finger isolation, and more.
